Happy Pride Month! Hope you enjoy the chapter! Kaleena won't be meeting Luke or Han for a few more chapters, unfortunately, but I already have them written, so they should be out soon! Please review!

2 BBY

Boots laced. Coat zipped. Armor strapped. Kaleena was ready to go. Her bounty's last known location was primed and ready in the navicomputer. She was ready to take down her first difficult solo bounty.

Boba Fett stood at the door of the cockpit as Kal was priming the ship for takeoff. "You ready for this?" he asked, leaning against the frame with his arms over his chest.

Kal turned in the chair to face her mentor. "Yes." There was no doubt clouding her expression or voice. Boba almost couldn't tell what she was feeling, but he could still read her perfectly. She may have gotten better controlling her facial expressions, but she still had a long way to go before she could fool Boba.

"Safonne Pendon is notorious." Kal nodded at his indirect warning and returned to getting the ship ready, but Boba wasn't done being worried. "Don't underestimate him."

"I won't." Her voice rang out in the cockpit. She was in a good mood. Even Boba's worry couldn't change it.

"You might want a vibroblade since that's what he favors."

"Thanks for the info."

"And he usually has people with him."

"Mhm."

"And he's good at flying, so make sure you scout around for nearby ships he might escape in."

"Got it."

"Oh, and-"

"Boba!" Kaleena abruptly turned to the older bounty hunter. "Boba, it's alright. I've got this. And if something seriously goes wrong, I know you'll come running to my aid. But you have to trust me. I've done my research. I'm prepared. The hard part is finding him. The last lead is from two weeks ago on Eriadu. It's a trade world though, so no one stays for long. And Pendon seems at least relatively smart, so he probably knows there's a bounty on his head. There are some on his crew, too. I could get lucky and cash in on more than one bounty."

Boba sighed and sat in the pilot seat. "Sorry, I guess I'm just worried for you. But you're eighteen. I was doing more dangerous things when I was younger than that. I shouldn't hold you to a different standard. If you need anything, I'll be there."

Kaleena smiled at him. When he let himself relax, Boba could actually be like a father figure to those around him. He was probably the type of father that Kal would have preferred to have growing up. It wasn't like Obi-Wan was a bad father, he simply didn't know what a child truly needed. He did the best he could and that's all Kaleena could have hoped for. She was just glad that she was getting the experience now. And she's gotten what she's always wanted. Freedom.

"Come on, are you going to fly the ship or do I need to?" she asked jokingly.

There was no way in hell that Boba would let her fly his ship. He playfully glared at her but strapped himself in. Then they were off to Eriadu.

Kal scouted for leads for days across the planet in as many cantinas, spaceports, and ratholes as she could. And it led nowhere. Her footsteps echoed as she stomped up the ramp into the Slave 1. Throwing down her heavy blaster onto her bed, she let out a noise of frustration. Her most recent contact was a slimy Duros with green skin and a habit of talking too loud. She wouldn't have minded the loud voice if he had actually been helpful.

A sharp knock rang out on the hatch of her room. Kal sighed. The last person she wanted to talk to about her ever-growing failure was her mentor.

"Kal, I know you're in there," Boba said through the door. "I saw the door close."

The girl looked at the door, silently debating whether or not to open it. After a few moments, she pressed the button. The hatch slid open, revealing Boba. Whenever she saw him without his armor on, Kaleena wanted to laugh at how ordinary he looked, but this time she didn't have the motivation to do so. She stood there, her expression a mixture of anger and boredom.

"You didn't find him, huh?" While the statement itself seemed condescending, Boba actually felt bad. Her excitement had turned to frustration. A frustrated bounty hunter can either be sloppy or dangerous. The glint in Kaleena's eyes made him lean towards dangerous.

Kaleena sat down on her mattress. "You'd think someone, anyone would have seen him."

"He could be good at hiding his tracks, only dealing with trusted sources who wouldn't crack under the pressure of a scary woman holding a blaster to their privates." Kal snorted at his attempt to ease her anger, causing Boba to smile at his slight success. "Or he paid them off. Pendon has a lot of money and an unpredictable repuation. We see it occasionally. Not every bounty is as easy as an overweight Devaronian sitting in one of four cantinas." That memory really got her smiling. Her small chuckle was nice to hear. It made her look more like the young woman she still was. The one she tried so hard not to be.

"Thanks, Boba." She stood up, took a deep breath, and looked at her mentor with a newfound sense of dedication. "I-I'm going to scout nearby planets and systems, starting with the ones that are good places to hide or have thriving black markets."

Boba smirked. "Atta, girl." He taught her well.

The map of the known galaxy was huge. There was no way that anyone had ever been to absolutely every planet or system. It simply wasn't possible in one lifetime. But the map was a culmination of multiple generations. There would continue to be new discoveries even after Boba or Kaleena had long perished. It wouldn't, however, take multiple generations to find one Rodian. He had to be talking to someone.

The first planet searched was Sullust. It was a major export of fuel for the Empire. While Kal had no true love for the Empire, it was an Imperial officer who had placed the bounty, so a few of the bucketheads were more than willing to allow Kaleena access to the surveillance system of a street where a bartender had claimed to see Safonne Pendon.

Kal sat in the uncomfortable chair as she poured over recordings of the last week on this one street. The lead officer at the specific outpost in charge of surveillance also had facial recognition, which made the scanning easier. However, considering the severe dislike of aliens from the Empire, the scan only looked for basic Rodian features. Every Rodian that passed through the street was flagged.

Hours passed until Kal spotted the one Rodian she actually cared about. The recording showed him talking to a human female. She looked rough, but definitely gave him some sort of information. It was time-stamped for a day prior.

"Thanks," Kal said before rushing out the door and to the area from the recording. Many Imperials and regular citizens rushed about, going from point a to point b, no caring about the young bounty hunter.

Kaleena hurried through every cantina, searching for the human woman. Her pink hair should have been easy to spot, but on a planet full of aliens that Kal had never seen before, strangely colored hair was not at the top of the list of things that would immediately catch her eye. It left Kal scrambling between every building, shop, cantina, and alley on and around the street that the woman had been seen with Pendon.

It took a few hours as Kaleena had to be discrete. She had to try her hardest to not alert anyone to her search. This left her with the tedious tasks of walking, loitering, and eavesdropping. But it paid off.

Hiding in the back of an alley was the haggard woman from the security recording. She looked tattered and cold, her vibrant pink hair messy and stringy. Kal almost felt bad for what she was about to do. Almost.

Stepping into the alley and hiding in the shadows, Kaleena reached out with the Force. She could feel the struggling life force of the woman and delved into her mind. The woman was either incredibly weak or distracted leading to very little resistance as Kal poked and prodded through her recent memories, looking for the runaway Rodian. She found what she needed.

Kal ignored the fact that Pendon was the woman's spice dealer and picked out the pieces that she needed. According to the woman's memory, Pendon was traveling off-world to Utapau, or at least that's what Kaleena could draw from it with the offhanded mention of the sinkhole world. A lead is a lead.

The young bounty hunter rushed back to Boba Fett's ship, and together they flew to Utapau. The planet was riddled with sinkholes. They were giant and home to the native populations and any immigrants. It was the perfect place to hide.

Utapau was known for not wanting to get involved with conflict, so bribing officials to view their own security recordings was nothing. Since both the Pau'an, the administrative leaders, and the Utai, the main labor force, were considered aliens by anyone who wasn't human, their software was more finely tuned than the Empire's, able to pick out key differences in individuals of each species. Pendon had a hideout on the planet. And according to the holorecordings, he went in and hadn't come out yet.

Kaleena rushed out of the office and hurried as quickly through the streets as she could without drawing unwanted attention to herself or her potential destination. As Kal happened upon the hideout, she climbed onto a platform from across the dwelling, glad she wasn't claustrophobic since the structure of living spaces on Utapau was similar to Coruscant-everything was in layers. The difference between the two planets, however, was the Coruscant levels were made of metal while Utapau was made of rock. Kal would trust a metal surface over a stone one any day.

From her high nook, Kal scoped out the surroundings, spotting three guards who weren't good at acting inconspicuous. Each was equipped with guns and snarls. One was Rodian, the other two were Weequay. Both species had a seemingly high number of criminals. She was hidden in the shadows as she waited patiently for nightfall. Her first difficult solo bounty was not going to have civilian casualties.

As the number of civilians wandering the streets dwindled to zero, Kaleena held her heavy blaster and put it in the sniper configuration. There was something thrilling about sniping. A nice air of mystery as a sniper rained fire below, hidden from all eyes. Kal pressed her body against the metal walkway to hide herself as much as possible as she aimed at the closest pirate, one of the Weequays, and pulled the trigger.

The other two pirates immediately readied their blasters, whipping their heads around to try and find Kal. She lined up her next shot and took out the Rodian guard. The Weequay began shouting the moment the Rodian hit the ground. Kal sighed and immediately shot him, too.

Two more pirates exited the front door. Kal scoffed at their stupidity, shooting them before the door could even start to close. The door stayed open as Kal jumped down from the platform and rushed over to the door, slowly peaking her head through the opening to spot any more pirates. The front room seemed empty, and she didn't sense anything from the Force, so Kal began dragging the five dead pirates into the room so no one outside the dwelling would find them. She didn't need unnecessary attention from authorities.

After pressing the button to close the front door, Kaleena treaded lightly towards a door on the far side. She could hear occupants talking in hushed tones in Huttese. They were worried about their companions who had gone to aid the guards outside.

One of the pirates ordered more to take a look. As the door opened, Kal grabbed the gun of the first pirate, ripping it from her hands and bashing her upside the head with it and tossing the gun away as she crumpled to the floor. All other pirates in the room began shouting and readying their weapons, ordering the protection of Pendon. They were also scared to have someone walk through the door again. Thankfully, Kaleena had a present from Boba Fett.

Kaleena readied her vibroblade and unclipped a smoke grenade from her belt. She pressed the button and tossed it in the room, filling it with smoke. Rushing inside, Kal immediately began taking down pirates, stabbing them with her blade or knocking them out with her armored fist.

The smoke barely lasted for a minute, leaving Kaleena exposed to one pirate left, the leader, Safonne Pendon. He coughed a few times from the remaining smoke but otherwise glared at Kal and unsheathed his own vibroblade. She didn't even get to be her impatient self as he launched himself at her first.

Dodging, slashing, and stabbing were all Pendon seemed to be able to do. He was good, but Kal got the upper hand as she swept his feet and kicked his chest. Pendon's back hit his desk with a crack, and Kal kicked his blade away, leaving the Rodian gasping in pain and utterly defenseless.

The bounty hunter stood tall with no emotion as she sheathed her blade and unclipped her sporting blaster. Raising the blaster, she said, "Any last words?"

"Who-who are you?" Pendon replied, his eyes drooping and his expression contorted in a grimace.

Kaleena pulled the trigger. The fried Rodian slumped to the ground, unmoving. "That was a poor choice of last words."